Social Development Minister Threatens Xenophobia Refugees

Social Development minister, Bathabile Dlamini is said to have threatened refugees at a camp in Durban.Image: SABC

A Burundian national is recovering in a coma in hospital after an altercation which involved the police in Durban, the media has revealed recently. He was apparently assaulted by the police with the butt of a pistol when the police were trying to take down some of the tents that were housing the people in the camp which had been set up for the purpose of housing the foreign nationals that were running way from the latest flare up of xenophobic violence. Jumna Saidi was apparently assaulted by the police after they arrived at the camp and tried to remove some of the tents. His friends say that he is still in a coma in hospital and they are not sure whether he will make it or not. They say that when the police came to the camp and tried to take down the tents, the inhabitants protested, which caused the police to become heavy handed.

The other residents of the displacement camp in Isipingo in Durban also appear traumatized and shocked, saying that they no longer know who to trust anymore. This situation was also aggravated by the fact that the minister of Social Development, Bathabile Dlamini is said to have threatened the inhabitants of the camp after they received donations of blankets and mattresses from Economic Freedom Fighters and their leader, Julius Malema. When the minister arrived after the donations, she seemed to have a problem with the fact that the residents of the camp had accepted donations from the EFF. The foreign nationals said they are now seeking the intervention of the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees. “We need the UN to come and help us please. We are in danger and we are not safe here anymore,” one of the residents said. The threatening was confirmed by several other refugees in the camp.